End of Life Counseling
by paynesgrey
Summary: Claire asks the only person who can kill her to end her immortal life. Sylar x Claire. Future AU, no spoilers. ONESHOT. This will not be continued.


AN: Written for my A-Z meme at Livejournal for the prompt "Suicide". Also used for my 13_fears claim on Claire Bennet for #07, Thanatophobia; Fear of Dying/Death. This is a one-shot and will not be continued.

End of Life Counseling

She's lying on the ground as he hovers over her body. She's ready for him, and she lets him have full reign of whatever he wants to do to her, for what she _hopes_ he will do.

"Just do it," she snarls through clenched teeth. Sylar looks down at her, intrigued and amused.

"I've told you before, Claire. I couldn't kill you if I wanted to," he says. He lowers on bended knee and rests his arms on his thigh. He grins as her leans over her, and she glowers back.

"You can, you just _won't_," she taunts. Sylar shakes his head and lets out a sigh.

"What do you really want me to do, Claire?" Sylar asks, and she senses annoyance. Good, she thinks.

"Cut me open, do what you do," she says with a sad smile. "End it all."

"Aw you really want to kill yourself? But you're so young," he mocks laughing. Claire glares.

"I'm 133 years old living in the body of a 17 year-old. I'm not _young,_" she retorts.

"You know, Claire, most people would kill for that chance," Sylar starts, but she interrupts him before he can wax on any further.

"Well, I'm not most people. Now are you going to kill me or not? Just find the spot already," she huffs with impatience.

"It won't work. The spot is microscopic. There's nothing I can do, Claire," he says. "Accept your fate. You're special."

"Don't give me that crap! You're lying. You just won't tell me you can't find the spot. Now…" She breaks their locked stares and looks to the dusty ceiling.

"What's this fascination that you have with me killing you? Is this some sort of new kink the kids are into these days?" he asks, tilting his head. He leans down, closer, and she can feel his breath. He whispers, "Do you really want to see my face that badly when you die?"

"It doesn't matter," she says to him, glaring at him hard. "If I could ask anyone else I would. It's just because you're the only one that can."

"Hrmm," Sylar muses agreeably. His hand reaches down and squeezes her throat. Her eyes lull back as he restricts the air from entering her lungs. She can feel him watching her, fascinated by her response. She smiles, and Sylar laughs at her. She moans in protest when his hands fall away, freeing her to breathe again.

"This is a new fad for you. I can see that," Sylar says, and she watches as he sits down next to her, resting his arms on his knees. "The first time… well, you ran away panicking to save your own life. The second time…you tried to fight me, but I won anyway."

"You spared me. You put my head back together," she argues.

"No," he says, shaking his head. Claire tensed as she felt his fingers stroke a line down her cheek. "I won't kill you, Claire." He tucks a lock of hair behind her ear, and she shudders. He watches her reaction with amusement, and she regains her reserve and glares back. She doesn't want Sylar, of all people, to affect her like this. She breaks away from his gaze and stares a hole in the ceiling.

"Then you're just as weak as everyone else," she says finally. The silence between them becomes tense. He knows she's poking at his ego, something that is both fun and dangerous. Hey, Claire thinks, maybe he'll change his mind and kill her after all. She turns her head and smiles at him. He's smiling too, but she sees the darkness in his eyes. He's becoming annoyed with her.

Claire likes Sylar better this way. Lately, he's been too tender, too forgiving. If it were anyone else, she'd be dead by now, and she envies the dead.

"You need to stop blaming your problems on me," Sylar says, and his thumb is stroking her chin. She doesn't draw away, and instead, she tilts her head into his touch.

"You usually are the reason for my problems," she states and flutters her eyelashes explicitly.

"Not this time, Claire," he says, and he frowns. Suddenly, he doesn't like that she's flirting with him. He draws his hand away, and she grabs it.

"Just kill me, Sylar," Claire says. "This is what I want. Do it for _me_." This is Claire's last resort, the last button she can push.

He frowns at her, and his eyes are dark as coals. "Be careful what you wish for, Claire."

He reaches over and quickly snaps her neck. She barely has time to protest or get out a hateful word. When she revives, she expects him to be gone. Instead, she sees him looking out the window in the abandoned warehouse where they've met hours before.

She realizes by the darkened sky that her regeneration has taken longer this time. She reaches her hand up to her head and feels the fresh blood in her hair. Her stomach feels nauseous, and she can taste bile in her mouth.

"You tried," she says softly. He looks away from the window, and she notices the stark moonlight washing over his face. He meets her eyes with a mysterious smile.

"Maybe," he said. "It was a waste of time, as I told you." He pauses and tilts his head. "I left you a surprise, however. I found something else."

Claire sits up and glares at him as Sylar continues. "Did you know that you had a glitch in your DNA where you couldn't conceive? I found it fascinating, and I haven't seen that before on any of my other victims." He strokes his chin as Claire looks on, horrified.

He chuckles. "It's funny. You asked me here to kill you, and instead I give you the power to create life."

Claire jumps up from the ground and fists her hands at her sides. "You… what have you done?"

In an instant, he glides over to her, and he starts to play with an unruly strand of her hair. Then, he whispers very low, "Don't let my gift go to waste."

Claire lifts her chin and sneers at him. "In your dreams, you bastard." His smile widens, and he sternly grabs her chin. She struggles, and soon his power from Doyle kicks in and she's unable to move. She closes her eyes and growls as he places a light kiss on her lips.

"Oh, Claire," he says softly. "When are you going to learn that you can't escape our destiny?" Claire grits her teeth but her eyes go wide as he releases her and steps out of the way and throws his hand up. Her mouth gapes as she looks up and sees a loose board from the ceiling fall onto her, knocking her out cold.

When Claire wakes up again, Sylar is truly gone. She curses at herself softly as she breaks free from the rubble and limps outside of the destroyed warehouse. With Sylar still nowhere in sight, it only fuels her anger toward him.

For decades, they'd been meeting randomly, and while Claire tries to circumvent destiny, Sylar is always trying to convince her to embrace it. There is no one left but them, and many of Claire's loved ones are gone, dead before her as she's expected all along.

In cruel reality, all she has left is Sylar, and sometimes she tells herself she should give in and forget all the things he has done. Much to Sylar's dismay, she just can't change her mind.

Claire would rather die than accept him – if only she could figure out how.

END


End file.
